2012-2013: The Kickstarter Bubble

After listening to a three part special podcast from my friends at Back Seat Designers, I got to thinking about the early days of Kickstarter. Or at least the early days of the “Kickstarter bubble.” This was a time where anyone with an idea could conceivably get their project funded without much problem. The site, and crowdfunding in general, had been around for a while by 2012. It just wasn’t until Tim Schafer arrived on the scene that it became a household name.

During the following two years or so, quite a few games were funded using this model. Sure, a good number failed as well, but in the end this was the time of the “big indies.” From early 2012 through most of 2013, a project could easily get six digits on little more than a premise alone. A few managed to breach seven digits, in the case of the bigger names like Schafer and Brian Fargo. Even smaller projects were able to knock out a couple stretch goals without much problem.

A lot of projects went through Kickstarter during this “peak period”. Both big and small campaigns managed to get funding relatively easily. Even lesser known companies like Infamous Quests (Quest for Infamy) and Warbird Games (Jack Houston) received respectable amounts. Unfortunately, a good number of projects also failed to come close. HeXit, Sam Suede, and other adventures were plagued with very little funding.

I go into a bit more detail in an latest episode of the Space Quest Historian podcast, but I wanted to do a bit of a history lesson during this important period of crowdfunding. This “bubble” grew until it seemed to pop around 2014. Or at least it started to deflate. In either case, it’s become harder to get an idea funded today. Even those with a solid pitch struggle to get even the base goal. But, that’s a story for another time.

Bursting the Bubble

From Double Fine Adventure to Shadowrun Returns to the Sierra titles like Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded on, we’ve seen a lot of games make it through sites like Kickstarter to varying degrees of success. The bursting of the bubble seemed to occur around the time when several titles had yet to be released. Even today, there are plenty games from this era waiting for even an alpha build let alone a public release.

Inconsistency in campaign quality, coupled with many games still in limbo, has caused backers to become wary of backing future titles. The bubble has essentially burst over the years, culminating in frustrated backers wanting to see something for their money. Less people are willing to trust crowdfunding until more is delivered, which in turn has caused more projects to flounder over time.

The “golden age” of crowdfunding has pretty much come and gone. The “newness” of Kickstarter has reached its peak and tapered off quickly. As mentioned in my analysis article on adventure games, fewer and fewer campaigns are seeing the runaway success earlier titles got. And until we see a better stable of quality games, I don’t see this bubble returning any time soon.

The Future of Crowdfunding?

Where does that leave us today? I’d say that Kickstarter is in a bit of a transition state right now. Fewer people are backing games, but that’s mostly due to the uncertain future of titles that still need to be released. As more projects see the light of day, how they’re received can mean the difference between a new bubble forming or the total collapse of crowdfunding, or (more likely) a normalizing of the entire sector.

I’m being a bit hyperbolic here, but the future of crowdfunding is really up in the air right now. Few news sites will cover anything but the biggest campaigns. This means smaller teams get left unnoticed by all but the most specialized sites. Back in 2012, you’d see more mainstream coverage by a lot of gaming sites. Today, not so much.

The history of Kickstarter goes much deeper than this basic look at the past. However, based on what I’ve seen since becoming a serial backer this is a good start. Perhaps I’ll dig deeper in the future to look at trends, but for now know this: Crowdfunding has waned quite a bit in popularity, but bubbles always burst, and bubbles can be blown up again. Only time will tell how this phenomenon pans out in the future.

Serena has been a gamer since an early age and was brought up with the classic adventure games by Sierra On-Line, LucasArts, and Infocom. She's been an active member on Kickstarter since early 2012 and has backed a large number of crowdfunded games, mostly adventures. You can also find her writing for Kickstart Ventures and evn.moe.

Popular Discussions

Battlefield V, the 13th entry in the series, is returning to its World War II roots. EA took a risk with the last in the series, the just as confusingly titled Battlefield I. Set during the First World War, it remains the only AAA shooter set in that conflict, and one of only a handful […]

Fortnite is free to play, with no pay to win aspects. It only takes your money for cosmetic items. That accessible approach has made it a massive hit. Curating a community has lead to massive engagement with the game, this is reflected in how much money it brings in despite being completely free. Yet it still makes hundreds of […]

No Moss Studios is a small Indie developer that is currently developing ‘tiny’ games. These titles really are tiny. They’re mainly doing this through Patreon, but also offer each for a single fee. Their mechanics of these games range wildly but they are all well designed. While games grow larger and more ambitious, Indie games have […]

Red Dead Redemption 2 has brought to light a specific philosophy of game design used in blockbuster games that emphasizes technological achievement over everything else. Rockstar has unapologetically perused a line of development in which the creation of the most life-like atmosphere in a game is the most important factor in crafting an experience. Chasing realism […]

I relate to Luigi a lot. He’s the sensible brother, sensing that the odds are against him and wisely retreating. Some may say that this is cowardice but I, for one, see the benefits of being scared shitless of anything remotely threatening. This applies to video games too so this year for Halloween, I set out […]